Sole-cutting machine



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. I

DAVID KNOX AND THOMAS DITCHBURN, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

SOLE-CUTTING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 27,458, dated March 18, 1860.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that we, DAVID KNOX and THOMAS DI'rCi-IBURN, of Lynn, in thecounty of Essex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a newand useful Sole- Cutting Machine; and we do hereby declare that thefollowing' is' a full, clear, and exact description of the constructionand operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is aside elevation; Fig. 2, a top view; Fig. 3, an enlarged view of theeccentric bush; F ig. 4, a perspective view of the bush detached; Fig.5, a side view of the double crank arrangement; and Fig. G, a detachedview of the slotted slide that gives a reciprocating motion to the heador frame, for carrying the knives.

Like parts are indicated by the same letters and figures in all thedrawings.

To enable others, skilled in the art, to make and use our machine, wewill now describe its construction and operation.

The nature of our invention consists, lst, in the slot, g, in the slide,G1, so constructed and operating as to answer the double purpose ofgiving a reciprocating motion to the movable head, or frame, and holdingthe same stationary for each of the knives to cut alternately; 2d, inthe use of an eccentric bush in the eye of the connecting rods, to

raise, or lower, the knives; 3d, in so constructing the back gage thatit shall be capable of a lateral movement, whereby both knives canalways be made to cut the samesized sole; and 4th, in attaching theconnecting rods, that actuate the knives, to double cranks, so that saidrods, when the knives are cutting, shall draw in a lineas nearly aspossible at right angles with the table; while at the same time we avoidthe noise of the eXtra pinions that must otherwise be used to move theconnecting rods.

A is one side of the frame, of cast-iron, the opposite side beingsimilar to it, and the two sides united by cross-bars in the usualmanner.

B is t-he table on whichthe leather, to be cut into soles, is placed andfed.

O is the adjustable lateral guide.

D D are the reciprocating heads of iron, or other suitable material,united at the top by the bar, 3; while the bottom is beveled and runs ina corresponding groove in the top of the frame, A.

D is an arm, or continuation, of the head, D, the lower end beingfurnished with a pin, 9, which projects on the inner side and bears onthe upper end of the large slot, lV, and thus prevents the head fromrising.

e and f (Fig. l) are slots in which slide the ends of the beams, 4 and5, (see Fig. 2) to the bottom of which are attached the plates, y, e,provided with knives of the proper contour to form the sole.

E and E are connecting rods through the upper extremities of which theends of the knife-carrying beams, 4, 5, pass, as shown in Figs. l and 2;the lower extremities of said rods being attached to pins, J and K, ofthe double crank L,-a side view of which crank arrangement is shown inFig. 5.

M is a pinion turning on the pin, T, which is fast in the frame, A.

N is a pinion attached to the shaft of the fly-wheel, P, and half thediameter of pinion, M. Motion is communicated to pinion, N, by means ofthe treadle, Q, pitman, R, and the crank-shaft, O, of fly-wheel, P.

G is a slide, of cast-iron or other suitable metal, shaped as seen inFigs. l and (3, and kept in place by means of cleats on the inner sideof the frame, A, and cross-bar 10. This slide, Gr, is made to move upand down in slot, lV, by means of pitman, H, the lower end of which isattached by a pin to connecting rod E, as represented in Fig. l.

g is a slot (the shape of which is shown in Figs. 1 and 6) in the slide,G.

9 is a pin, fast in the lower end of arm, D, and projecting into slot,g. Thus it will be seen that as the slide, Gr, moves up and down, thehead, D, will be made (by pin, 9, and slot, g) to slide backward andforward as far as necessary; and as the top, and bottom, parts of slot,g, are parallel with slots, e and f, the knives will have no lateralmotion while cutting,-the lateral motion being performed while the pin 9is passing through the oblique part of, g.

S is the back-gage (for regulating the width of the sole) passingthrough the beam, U, and confined by set-screw, V. Ordinarily it issufiicient to simply move the gage, S, in a direct line; but, (when new,or different, knives are used, or the machine gets worn) it sometimeshappens that one knife will cut a wider sole than the other,- to obviatewhich difficulty We attach to the end of S an arm, or swivel, T, whichis capable of a lateral motion, and is confined by set-screw, t. Bysimply moving said arm from point, l, (see Fig. 2) toward point, 2, orvice versa, the two knives can always be made to cut soles of the samewidth.. If, for instance, knife, Y, cuts a sole too narrow, we move theswivel, T, from point, l, toward 2, when it is obvious that knife, Y,will cut a wider sole, and knife, Z, a narrower one.

In order to raise, or lower, one end, or both ends, of a knife, wefurnish the eye of the connecting rods (as seen in F, Fig. l) with aneccentric bush provided with a setscrew, it. An end view of the bush ona connecting rod is shown in Fig. 3, and a perspective view in Fig. 4.The eye of the connecting rod turns on part 7 of the bush; part, 8,being of greater diameter, as shown in Fig. 4, so as to form a shoulderand afford sufficient thickness for holding the set-screw. Through thisbush, and parallel to its axis, is an eccentric hole of the proper sizeto receive the ends, G, of the knife beams, 4 and 5. Thus, by turningthis bush, it isobvious that the knives may be brought nearer to thetable, or farther from it, at pleasure.

X is a board for conducting the soles from the machine to the floor, orany suitable receptacle.

`What we claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

l. Giving a reciprocating, or vibrating, motion to the head, D, by meansof the slot, g, and pin, 9, substantially as set forth, and for theobject specified.

2. The use of an eccentric bush in the eye of the connecting rods,substantially as described, for the purpose of raising, or lowering, theknives.

3. Giving a lateral motion to the backgage, by the use of a swivel, T,or in any equivalent manner, as described, so that both knives canalways be made to cut the samesized sole.

4;. The use of the double crank for actuating the connecting rods, E, F,in combina tion with the movable head, D, substantially as, and for theobjects, specified.

DAVID KNOX. THOMAS DITCHBURN. lVitnesses:

N. AMES, EBEN PARSONS, Jr.

